Last week was the second time I’ve had the fun job of removing a dashboard to replace part of the HVAC system, this time on a Honda Fit.

The Fit is a subcompact, but the size of it really wasn’t a problem when doing this job. The worst part was that there’s one bolt that goes into the dashboard from the front and you have to take the wiper arms and cowl off. You’re told by the manual to remove the wiper linkage, but my coworker Tatiana, who was helping me with this job, was able to reach in without removing it.

One of the other things that gave me trouble was the wiring. There are already a lot of connectors to unplug before you can pull the dash out, but this car also had a Honda remote start system, which adds another wiring harness that plugs into the middle of several spots of the harness already in the car, so it was even more complicated. When we started to take the dash out I found a few more connectors I hadn’t noticed and had to crawl under it to take them out while it was suspended over my head.

I covered an entire folding table with all the parts I took out of the interior to be able to remove the dashboard. During the last dashboard job I did I didn’t take as many precautions and several parts got scratched up and had to be replaced, but this time everything came out unscathed. I wrapped up the shifter and emergency brake handle with tape and a rag to make sure they wouldn’t get scratched like last time.

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-Dan